Liquid depth sampling device and method of obtaining samples



July 29, 1941. 2,250,722

LIQUID DEPTH SAMPLING DEVICE AND NEI' DD 40F OBTAINING SAMPLES R. D.NICHOLS Filed Jan. 12. 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 VE/YTOR. RICHARD D NICHOLS,BY 0 7n 1477-54 y 1941. R. D. NICHOLS 2,250,722

- LIQUID DEPTH SAMPLING DEVICE AND METHOD 'OF OBTAINING SAMPLES FiledJan. 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I/NVE/YTOR I RICHARD D. N|CHOLS,

Patented July 29, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIQUID DEPTH SAMPLINGDEVICE AND METHOD OF OBTAINING SAMPLES- Richard D. Nichols, Columbus,Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a. corporation ofOhio Application January 12, 1939; Serial'No. 250,561-

7 Claims.

liquid, and particularly a liquid having flocs in suspension thereinwithout destroying or reducingthe size of the formed flocs.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the'accompanying drawings;

Fig. 1' is a diagrammatic view showing the device of my invention inelevation and in obtaining a sample of liquid in a tank;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational' view of the lowerportion of thedevice;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but taken at right angles withrespect to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4'--4 of Fig. 3 looking inthe direction of the arrows! Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on theline 55 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3 looking in thedirection of the arrows; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showing a feature.

of the device;

One of the principal problems encountered in obtaining samples,particularly of liquids having flocsin suspension, is that in obtainingthe sample the flocs are altered from their original state as found inthe liquid, particularly in that the fiocs are either destroyed orappreciably reduced when received by the sampling mechanism. I haveprovided an improved type of sampling deviceand method of operation bywhich this difficulty isovercome.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it,

will be seen that I have provided a device comprising a handle it madeup of a plurality of removably connected sections 1 I and a head sectionl2. The'sections II and F2 are provided withcooperating bayonet slotattaching means I3 including a retaining spring mechanism [4 whichoperates man obvious mannerto main= tain'the sections ll and"l2"removably connected" while at the same time providing for their readydisconnection. The sections" ll are preferably provided with scale meansI5 to indicate the depth atwhich the sample is obtained, the headsection l2'* having a known length; as does the receptacle.

Carried'by the topmost section II by a remov- 4 able clamping bracket [6is a hand pump H" which is connected to a flexible rubber hose orconduit l8 by' a T'-c0nnection l9 which provides a pinch-cock Vent. bymeans of a short rubber tube 20 (see Fig. '7) having a restricted"outlet" orifice 2|, with" which tube 20 there 'is provided a pinchingspring 22 which may be operated manually to open or close the valveformed thereby. The hose I8 is preferably supporte'd'from the topsection IT by a pair of bands 23,123.

Adjacent its bottom the head section I2 is provided with a' rigidlyattached bushing. 24 to which is riveted plate 25 having a plurality. of

fingers'or clips of which those numbered 26 are bent over to retain adisc 2T of'rubber in contact with the plate 25 and of which thosenumbered 28 act to center the sampling receptacle or collectorpreferably'in the form of an inverted glass jar 29 which, in theoperating position is, of course, provided with a bottom opening 30which is normally the top of the jar. jar 29 on the rubber disc 21 thebushing 24' is provided with an integral arm 3l' to which is attached aspring clip 32 which,.at least in part,. surrounds the glass jar 2'9 andremovably holds it against both vertical and lateral movement.

It is thusevident that the jar 29 is removably. attached'to the handlein at the bottom thereof to the bottom plate 34 the cage- 35 comprises atop casting 36 in the form of a sleeve which is provided with ajournal'bearing 31 sli'dablealong.

the head section I2 of the handle l0.

Interconnecting the top casting 36 and the bottom plate 34 is aplurality of rods 38 which are attached to each by appropriate nuts 39.As best seen by reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings, the top casting 36is in the form of a spider, the

legs ofwhich extend out to receive the above mentioned rods 38; Also, asseen by reference particularlyto Figs? 3and4 ofthe drawings, on

To. retain the one side of the cage 35 the rods 38 are so spaced as toprovide an opening or door which permits ready insertion and removal ofthe glass jar 29.

Extending along one side of the cage 35 is a pipe 45 the lower end ofwhich is bent in the shape of a U and extends through a central hole inthe closure or stopper 33, thus projecting into the glass jar 29, asclearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The upper end ofthe pipe 49 is attached to the aforementioned hose :3 which hose I8 isattached by a clip 4| to the top of the casting 35. The lower end of thepipe 49 which, as above set forth, extends into the jar 29, is providedwith a flexible hose 42 the upper end of which is open and which is heldagainst the top, or what is normally the bottom, of the jar 29 by aninternal helical wire spring 43 having less diameter than the internaldiameter of hose 42 to allow a free flow of air therethrough. The lowerend of the spring 43 is wrapped about and securely attached to theupwardly extending lower end of the pipe 49. It is, of course, evidentthat the top casting 33 and the cage 35, which is rigidly attachedthereto and forms a part of it, may slide along the head section I2 tomove the stopper or closure 33 into and out of closing position withrespect to the jar 29.

To provide for the movement of the cage 35, thereby to move the closureor stopper 33 to its closing position, while below the surface of theliquid 44 in the tank 45, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, achain 43 is provided, the lower end of which is attached to the casting36 (Fig. 6) and the top of which is provided with an appropriate ringand received by a hook 4'! on the upper section H of handle M (Fig. 1).

To provide a latch to look the cage 35 in stoppered closing position, Iprovide a latch mechanism which operates automatically whenever saidstopper or closure 33 is moved to such position, which latch isillustrated in Fig. 6 of thedrawings. Said latch comprises a pair ofleaf springs 48 which are rigidly attached to a head 49 which, in turn,is rigidly attached to the head section l2. The leaf springs 48 areprovided with latching hooks 59 which extend through opposed slots 5! inthe head section l2 and are adapted to hook over a circumferentialflange 52 formed integral with the journal hearing 3?. biased to moveoutwardly, as viewed in Fig. 6 of the drawings, and consequently, whenthe relative movement between the cage 35 and the head section I2 issuch as to move the stopper or closure 33 to jar closing position thehooks 59 will move outwardly and hook over the flange 52, therebylocking the stopper or closure 33 in its closing position.

To provide for the release of this latch an operating cylinder 53 isprovided which moves freely in the head section l2 and which is providedwith a pair of spaced integral upwardly extending arms 54 to which isattached an operating handle 55 having free but limited vertical motionin elongated slots 55 formed in opposite sides of-the head section 52,one of which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The lowerend' of the cylinder 53 carries a pair of sliding abutments 51 adaptedto contact and slide over theleaf springs 48.

- It is manifest that with the handle 55 in its uppermost position, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the cylinder 53 and slideIn other words, the leaf springs 48 are blocks 5'! will be in theiruppermost positions. Upon moving the cylinder 53 downwardly by movinghandle 55 downwardly slide blocks 51 will bring the lower ends of theleaf springs 48 closer together sumcient to release the latch betweenthe hooks 50 thereof and the flange 52 of the journal bearing 31. Thisoperation will be effected as hereinafter described after the sample hasbeen removed from the liquid 44.

In the operation of the device comprising my invention with theconsequent realization of the method of my invention, the parts willfirst be assembled as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, after whichthe lower end of the device will be lowered into the liquid 44 a desiredamount which may be anywhere between the surface of the liquid 44 andthe bottom of the tank 45 at a depth which will be determined by thescale l5. During this lowering operation the jar 29 will be in theposition illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings and it is probable thatsome of the liquid 44 will flow into the jar 29. When the desiredposition of the jar 29 is reached the operator will operate the pump I1which will force air into the top of the jar 29 by way of the hose l8,pipe 40 and hose 42, the top of which is retained in the top of the jar29 by the coil spring 43 thereby insuring that all the liquid will bedriven out of the jar 29 by compressed air whenever the operator hasoperated pump I! the necessary amount which will be indicated by bubblescoming to the surface of the liquid 44. Under these conditions it is, ofcourse, evident that the jar 29 is substantially evacuated or emptyinsofar as the liquid is concerned and that all of the liquid has beenremoved therefrom and the device is substantially full of compressedair.

One of the principal problems in obtaining samples of liquid,particularly those samples which have flocs therein, for example asobtained by flocculation of turbid Water, industrial wastes or sewage,is that the water is flowing into the container, such as the container29, flows in at such a high velocity as to destroy or appreciably alterthe flocs from what they were in the liquid 44. As a consequence, a trueindication of the condition of the flocs in the liquid 44 has notpreviously been obtained. To prevent this undesirable action the air isreleased from the glass jar or container 29 at a very low rate in thatthe air is allowed to leak out of said jar 29 by way of the pinch-cockillustrated in detail in Fig. 7 of the drawings. That is, the spring 22is released to allow the air to flow through the short rubber tube 29and through the restricted orifice 2| which requires the flow of theliquid having the flocs in suspension into the container 29 to be at alow rate.

It should be understood that before the inverted jar 29 is projected toa predetermined level in the tank 45, the handle 55 is moved down torelease the latches 55, 50 of Fig. 6 whereupon the top casting 36 of thecage 35 may be let down by releasing the chain 46 from the hook 41 andagain suspending the chain from the hook after the closure 33 occupies aposition spaced below the open mouth of the jar 29. 'Then by moving thehandle 55 back toits upper position, the latches 50, 50 will be inposition to operate automatically, although while the closure 33 isspaced below the jar opening the latches 50, 59 rest against the innerwall of the head section l2. As stated above, some liquid will enter thejar 29 through its open mouth 39 when the operator lowers the structureto the position shown. in Fig. 1. Some of this liquidmay be from anylevel in the tank 45,. whereas the sample to be taken is to be from alevel predeterminedby means of the scale on the rod. I0. In Fig. 1 thereis illustrated the taking of a sample of liquid from the bottom level.

When the jar is located at a predetermined level the pump H is operatedto force out from the jar 29 all water that may be therein. Theexclusion of all water in the jar 29 is indicated by bubbles of airrising from the open mouth of the jar to the surface of the liquid inthetank After the liquid at the predetermined depth or level becomesquiescent, the spring 22 is released to allow air in the jar 29 toslowly escape from the restricted orifice 2! (Figs. 1 and 7) and as thisoccurs, water slowly enters the open mouth 30 of the jar 29 until nomore air escapes from the orifice 2i which indicates to the operatorthat the jar is filled with the desired sample of the liquid at thedesired depth. The filling of the jar 29 thus takes place with a minimumof disturbance, and this is particularly important in water purificationsystems and in sewage disposal systems where in certain steps flocs arein suspension and in taking samples it is highly desirable not todestroy or reduce the size of the formed flocs.

After the jar 29 has been filled with liquid while in the position shownin Fig. 1, an upward pull on the chain 36 will lift the cage 35relatively to the jar 29 so as to lift the closure 33 against the openmouth 30 of the jar. The latch mechanism 50, 5| will be operatedautomatically when the closure of the bottom opening of the jar takesplace and consequently the sample of liquid at the desired depth islocked in the jar while the latter is being lifted to and above thesurface 44 of the liquid in the tank 45.

After the sample has been taken and removed from the tank the headsection l2 may be removed at the bayonet joint l3 from the next adjacentsection II. By inverting the cage 35 and releasing the latches 58, 5B,the jar may be released after opening the closure 33. With the jar inupright position resting on the rubber disc 21 it may easily be liftedfrom the positioning clips 28 and then swung around with the arm 3| andspring clip 32, through the largest lateral opening of the cage 35 andfinally lifted out from between the arms of the spring clip 32. Theremoval of a filled jar and the replacement thereof with an empty jarmay readily be effected by reason of the flexibility of the hoseextension 42.

After the container 29 is filled, or at any intermediate time in itsoperation, the former of which is indicated by the fact that no airflows from the pinch-cock, the chain 46 is pulled upwardly therebymoving the cage 35 upwardly which carries the closure or stopper 33 intoposition to close the bottom opening 30 of the glass jar 29 where it isautomatically latched by the aforedescribed latch mechanism. Under theseconditions, a sample of liquid having flocs in suspension therein isentrapped in the jar or closure 29 and the jar may, of course, bewithdrawn from the liquid 44 by lifting the handle l0.

After the jar i withdrawn as aforesaid, the lower section II isdisconnected from the head section l2 and the latter is turned over sothat the jar 29 has its Opening 30 at the top. After this is effectedthe aforementioned latch is released. by operating the handle 55, movingit upwardly, under the conditions described, whereupon the cage '35 maybe moved upwardly to permit free removal of the glass jar 29 from thehead section l2.

While the above mentioned method and operation of the apparatus has beendescribed in connection with, the obtaining of samples of liquids havingflocs in suspension it is, of course, evident that the sampling devicemay be employed with other'liquids, but it is particularly useful wherethe infiow of liquid should be at a restricted rate to reduce to aminimum disturbance, of the constituency of the liquid or particlessuspended therein. It is thusmanifest that I have produced a simple butefiicient device for obtaining accurate samples of liquid andparticularly a liquid having flocs in suspension therein and haveproduced a novel method of obtaining such samples while insuring thatthe sample is truly representative of the liquid at the position wherethe sample is taken.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Itherefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a liquid sampling device, the combination with an elongatedhandle, of a liquid container open at its bottom carried thereby, pumpmeans to pump air into said container while it is submerged including ahose extending through said open bottom and terminating at the top ofthe inside of the container, means to allow air to flow from saidcontainer at a gradual rate, and means to close said open bottom of saidcontainer.

2. In a liquid sampling device, the combination with an elongatedhandle,of a liquid container open at its bottom carried thereby, pump means topump air into said container while it is submerged, means including ahose extending through said open bottom of said container to allow airto flow from said container at a gradual rate, and means including aflexible material closure adapted to close said open bottom of saidcontainer.

3. In a liquid sampling device, the combination with an elongated handlecarrying at its bottom an open container, a pump near the top of saidhandle, a hose extending from said pump into the opening of saidcontainer whereby air under pressure may be pumped into said container,and a valve near said pump connected with said hose to control the flowof air from said container.

4. A sampling device comprising an inverted glass jar, mechanism forremovably supporting said jar in inverted position comprising a basehaving jar centering fingers and a spring clip frictionally attachingsaid jar thereto, a flexible material closure for said jar, andmechanism for operating said closure including latch means to latch itin closed position.

5. In a sampling device, the combination with a container having abottom opening, mechanism for suspending said container, a closure forsaid bottom opening, and mechanism for operating said closure from openposition spaced below said bottom opening to closed position againstsaid bottom opening; said last-named mechanism including a bottom memberspaced below said container and a top member spaced above the containerconnected by rods to a cage with the rods spaced to provide removal ofthe container laterally from the cage 6. In a sampling device, thecombination with a container having a bottom opening, of means forsuspending said container with its opening at its underside, a closurefor said opening, and mechanism guided along said suspending means abovethe container and comprising a cage about said container connected to asupport for said closure spaced below the bottom opening of said '7. Asampling device comprising an inverted container having an open bottom,-a support, a diso'of resilient material, means for connecting said discto said support, spaced clips connected to the support in position to beengaged by the upper end portion of said container to center the samerelative to said support, suspension means connected to said support, anL-shaped arm extending radially from said support and downwardlyalongside said container, and a spring clip comprising arms mounted onsaid L- shaped arm in position to frictionally embrace said container tosupport the same with its upper end against said resilient disc whilecentered by container, said cage having a side opening to 5 said spacedclips relative to said support.

provide for ready removal of the container.

RICHARD D. NICHOLS.

